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“Do you see me in your life in five years?” he asks. “If you imagine your future right now, do you see a place for me in it?”
I don’t have to close my eyes to imagine it. I’ve always admired him, and at some point, those feelings of admiration transformed into s
omething else. The way he stood up for me, the way he went out of his way to take care of me, the manner with which he treats my opinions, like a partner rather than a subordinate, they’ve kept endearing me to him. This man has inserted himself into my life, standing next to me, helping me deal with my emotional baggage. He’s stood by my side through every step of this journey, holding out his hand to me every time I fall and hurt my heart. “Yes.” My answer is faint and low.
Jace smiles. “That’s enough for me. You can take as much time as you want to sort through your feelings. But I think I’m in love with you already.”
A slow flush creeps up on my face. “W-what?”
He curls a strand of my hair around his finger. “It hit me last night when I was in my apartment, thinking that maybe your mother had a good reason to tell you to run, rather than go to the police or something. I stood in the middle of my apartment, planning out our future together rather than just yours. I already knew that where you went, I would go. I don’t think I can let you go now, Halley.”
My heart is drumming between my ears and I feel something wet slide down the side of my face.
Jace’s smile fades into a frown. “Wait…Why are you crying?”
I sniffle, rubbing my eyes. “I don’t know.”
He laughs then and drags me closer.
We stay like that for a while. I’m aware that I haven’t responded to his feelings and I need to soon.
But right now, we’re both content like this.
15
Jace
“Jet Stalinski was your father?”
Halley is leaning against my legs as she works on her laptop. “That’s what Uncle Raymond suspects. But he says that my mom never denied or accepted that fact. I never knew my mom ran away from home to come live here.”
“You might have family out there,” I say, slowly, one eye on what Kendall and Tracy are doing in there.
A week has passed, slow in its movement. So this weekend Kendall invited me and Halley over. I hadn’t been expecting to see Elise and Lana here as well.
Lucas is watching a tennis game with Duke, Tracy’s husband and Caleb’s closest friend. Sophie is chewing on his tie with apt concentration. Oliver and Caleb are on the balcony discussing something amongst themselves.
I tug at Halley’s hair, idly. “I didn’t know this would turn out to be a whole gathering.”
She glances up at me.
I see her rainbow colored hairband with the small unicorn horn standing out. I don’t know where she got it from but it’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen. I grin, flicking at it. I love how strange this woman can be sometimes.
“Stop it.” She pinches me.
I wince.
“I checked for family,” she informs me. “And I have none. My grandparents passed away a year after Mom left. Car accident.” She glances around the room, and smiles. “It’s all right. I don’t mind it. It’s quite nice like this.”
Tracy’s son runs past us towards Elise and Lana, who are looking at some catalogues. Lana is heavily pregnant now and on maternity leave while Oliver could not be happier.
“What are you doing?” I ask her.
Halley has been working on something for a few days and she’s always glued to her laptop.
“I found Uncle Raymond’s old phone that he loved so much. It got water damaged and it’s positively ancient. He was devastated when he lost all the data, so I created this program that might help me recover everything.” She shoots me a look. “His birthday is coming up and I want to do this for him. Mia got him an antique record player. I might use your laptop though; its processor is faster.”
I study the back of her head as she returns to her work. “Sure.” I pause. “What did Cameron get him?” Cameron has been a touchy subject ever since our little heated discussion and Halley hasn’t brought him up ever since.
